"I Googled, 'How to make a viral video' and 'When is the best time to post a viral video,' Garvin somewhat sheepishly admitted. "I thought it had a better chance if I figured out what would work best."

Posted Tuesday, the video quickly locked at 301 views on YouTube, an indicator the video was going viral. By early Wednesday morning, it had 20,000 views and would eventually be featured on YouTube's homepage. By early Thursday afternoon, Garvin's magical beard surpassed 1 million total views, with no signs of slowing down.

And it didn't: Early Friday morning, the viral sensation was nearing 2 million views.

The video is charging up popular boards on reddit, Gawker and Mashable, websites hard-wired to capture the viral nature of the Internet. Art and design blogs, along with local media, also caught on quickly to the video by Garvin, a Pioneer Press photographer and videographer.

Beyond learning the technical aspects of promoting and distributing online, Garvin created a video deliberately designed to tickle a viewer's desire to share.

"I didn't want a single moment where someone watching it was bored," he said. "I wanted people laughing after the video was over, and they would immediately want to show their friends."

The video's finale features Garvin covered with -- and being consumed by -- shaving cream. He couldn't stop laughing, and it doesn't appear the Internet will anytime soon, either.

"Sooooooo ya," one reddit commenter said. "Today I watched a guy play with his beard for two minutes. Best two minutes of the day so far."